Report highlights plight of African children

At least one in six children in sub-Saharan Africa die before the age of five, compared to one in 140 in developed countries, according to a new report. Most of these children succumbed to preventable or treatable diseases, such as malaria and pneumonia, said the report, 'One in Two: Children Are The Key To Africa's Future' by the international NGO, Save the Children. The agency attributed the deaths to the failure to deliver sustainable development in Africa over the last 20 years, and to "put children at the centre of policy" in the continent. "African children experience routine violation of their basic human rights. Tens of million don't get adequate healthcare or education - many none at all. Millions more are victims of conflict, violence and abuse," the researchers noted. The NGO said developed countries had "under-delivered on their promises to provide aid to the poorest in sub-Saharan Africa". Healthcare and education were chronically under-funded in many countries and children's issues were often not prioritised by African governments. "The poorest families are forced to pay for - or go without - even the most basic services," the report commented. Sub-Saharan Africa was the region furthest from achieving universal primary education, with the lowest numbers of children starting school. "On top of this, [the region] is being ravaged by HIV/AIDS - around 2.2 million children are infected with the virus and nearly 12.5 million have been orphaned by AIDS," the NGO observed. Given these statistics, "few of the [UN] Millennium Development Goals - including those to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty, reduce child mortality, and [provide] free universal primary education - will be met this century, let alone by 2015." However, Save the Children added that "this year provides a unique opportunity", as there was "broad agreement about what developed countries need to provide - more and better-targeted aid, fairer trade and debt relief". "African governments also need to focus on better governance and providing basic rights for all, but unless these policies focus on children, we will fail to break the cycle of poverty for future generations in Africa," the organisation warned. The NGO urged governments, donors and multilateral agencies to place children - their survival, development and protection - at the centre of policy and practice. "Above all, to break Africa's cycle of poverty, there must be an unprecedented level of investment in this generation of children." Two-thirds of childhood deaths could be prevented through better health services, targeted at and delivered to children. "Governments and the international community must provide sufficient, predictable support, so that health workers can be paid; donors must stop imposing damaging policies that lead to cutbacks in health spending and poor families having to pay for their children's healthcare," the report suggested, because "children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS need extra protection." There should also be no charges or other costs related to schooling, such as books and equipment, "that prevent poor children going to school". In order to ease poverty, rich nations should deliver harmonised and consistent aid packages and cease practices that retarded the economic growth of African countries. "Thirty years ago, rich countries promised they would give 0.7 percent of their GNI [gross national income] in aid. Delivering on this would provide another US $130 billion [to development efforts]," the report commented. Save the Children highlighted the need for donors to "stop imposing damaging conditions, such as the inappropriate opening of markets, cutting of subsidies, cutting back on public spending, privatisation and deregulation, and limiting expenditure on essential services that benefit the poorest families". "They should back plans developed by countries themselves, especially those aimed at developing health and education systems. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa will never be able to stand on their own feet economically without fairer trade practices by richer countries," said the development agency. In terms of the potential of natural resources to uplift countries, the report observed that "oil, gas and mining ... are a major source of revenue in many African countries". "But, instead of benefiting sustainable development and children, Africa's wealth of resources has often increased poverty and fuelled conflict and corruption. Children have paid with their lives, as resources have been diverted from essential services, such as health and education, to pay for military and security spending, or through corruption." Multinational corporations in the extractive sector should be made to publish their payments to governments, who in turn should disclose their revenues from natural resources. Save the Children called for a UN General Assembly resolution to support greater transparency in this regard. In terms of food security, "food aid [alone] is not enough", the NGO concluded. "International donors must take a much broader approach to protect livelihoods and provide long-term food security, with social safety nets and protection for those who are most vulnerable." For the full report go to: www.savethechildren.org.uk